Signaling apparatus.



J. MARSHALL.

SIGNALING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.23, I917- RENEWED NOV. 12,1919- m.. J W 1 DH ATTORN EY J. MARSHALL.

SIGNALING APPARATUS. APPLICATION HLEU 1AN.23.191I RENEWED NOV. 12,1919.

Patented Dec. 30,1919.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- M a EN m WITNESSES ATTORN EY JOSEPH MARSHALL, OFLONDON, ENGLAND.

SIGNALING APPARATUS.

asse ses;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. so, 1919.

Application filed January 23, 1917, Serial No. 144,019. Renewed November12, 1919. Serial No. 837,838.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH MARSHALL, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, residing at Queens Park, Kilburn, London, N. W, England, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Signaling Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a signal apparatus and particularly to anaudible signal for use between ships at sea, between ships and the coastand wherever audible signals may be used, and to this end the inventionhas for its primary object to provide a simple apparatus that can beoperated automatically or manually to produce one or more blasts uponsound producing instruments having different and distinct tones whichmay be distinguished by the hearer and convey the information,particularly in foggy weather of the position of the vessel carryingthis apparatus and the direction in which said vessel is steering.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that willcause one, two or more blasts of equal length and at predeterminedintervals to be sounded upon horns, whistles, or other suitableinstruments each having a tone readily distinguishing it from the othersso that the order in which the blasts are sounded may be easilyunderstood at a distance and the information to be conveyed by theblasts or series of blasts readily interpreted according to a previouslydetermined code.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for thepurpose set forth with a rotating drum, wheel or cylinder timed torevolve within a given period of time and having on its peripheralsurface a number of projections each of the same length and arranged ingroups, the projections of each group being equally spaced from oneanother. The projections furthermore are arranged each in a differentplane perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder so that one, two or moremay act in succession upon a rocking member for the purpose of actuatinga cable or lanyard leading to the sound-producing instruments.

With the above as the principal objects in view the invention consistsin the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of partshereinafter described, pointed out in the appended claims, andillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a sideelevation of the improved apparatus for operating sound producinginstruments,

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same nechanism,

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 14 of Fig. 3 of a detail of theinvention, and

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings, the frame of the apparatus is formed of a frontstandard and a rear standard 11 placed in parallel relation and asuitable distance apart to include the mechanism therebetween. Aboutmidway the height of the standards 10 and 11 there is provided in each abearing for a horizontal shaft 12 upon which is fixed a drum or cylinder13, said shaft and drum being rotatable by a pulley 1 L keyed on one endof the shaft and driven by a belt 15 from any suitable source of powerand geared to turn the drum or cylinder 13 one complete revolution in aminute or any other preferred period of time. The standards 10 and 11are each divided below the hearing or shaft 12 as shown at Fig. 1 intotwo downwardly inclined legs 16 forming as shown an A shaped framewhereby greater steadiness is given the standards. The upper end of eachstandard above the periphery of the drum or cylinder 13 is divided intothree branches of trident shape, the central branch 17 being slightlyhigher than the lateral branches l8 and 19. Between the branches 17 ofthe two standards there extends a horizontal plate 20 fixed at its endsto the branches. 17. A similar plate 21 connects the branches 18 whilethe plate 22 joins the branches 19. Besides connecting the upper ends ofthe standards 10 and 11, these plates support slides 23, 24; and 25 fora purpose hereinafter described.

The drum or cylinder 13 is provided with a number of radial projections26 on its peripheral surface, here shown as four in number and placedall within the space of a semi-circumference of the drum so that thefour projections will operate the sound producing mechanism within ahalf rotation of the drum and remain quiet the other half. These fourcams or projections do not lie all in the same plane of rotation 'buteach projection is in a separate plane as indicated clearly in Figs. 2and 3, an arrangement whereby one, two, three or four blasts may besounded as desired with little or no trouble by said mechanism. Thesefour projections are preferably placed at the front end of the drum orcylinder '13, similar projections 27, here shown as three in numberbeing formed in like manner on the rear end of the cylinder. At thecenter of the cylinder are four cams or projections 28 all double thelength of the projections 26 and 27 and equally spaced around thecircumference of the cylinder in the same plane with. short intervalstherebetween, these cams serving to sound long, equally spaced blastscontinuously as the drum or cylinder 13 rotates.

A short distance below the plate 21 is a horizontal shaft 29, the endsof which are journaled in the branches 18 0f the standards 10 and 11.Slidable longitudinally on the shaft 29 is a tappet comprising a sleeve30 from the ends of which there depend two arms 31 the lower ends ofwhich rotatably support a roller 32 adapted to bear on one or all of theprojections or cams 26,.the number of cams engaging the roller dependingupon the position of the roller with relation to the drum13. The shaft29 may be square in cross section or may have a groove ex tending fromend to end thereof as shown in the drawings in whichgroove 33 thereprojects a pin or key 3 1 from the sleeve 30 by means of which thetappet is guided longitudinally on the shaft 29 while the latter rockswhenever the tappet 32 is elevated by one or more of the cams 26. Nearthe forward end of the shaft 29 is a downwardly extending arm 35 that isfixed on the shaft to rock therewith, and has on its lower end aquadrant 36 the outer or convex face of which quadrant is grooved as at37 to receive a small rope or lanyard 38, one end of which is attachedto an eye 39 at the lower end of the arm 35, and passing there from inthe normal position of the parts around a groove pulley 10 journaled ona bracket 41 projecting outwardly from the standard 10. The lanyard 38after passing around the pulley extends in the most direct manner to asound producing instrument such as a horn or whistle operated by air,steam, or other fluid. Projecting upwardly from the sleeve 30 is aquadrant shaped plate 42 that slides freely in a notch as in a web orplate t-l on the under side of the slide 24 movable on the plate 21. Bythis construction the slide may be moved longitudinally on the plate 21into position to cause the roller 32 to extend sufiiciently far over thedrum 13 to be enby one,'two, or more cams or projections 26. The slideis retained in position to maintain the roller inengagement with theproper number of cams by means of a pin 45 secured on one end of aresilient arm as, the opposite end being attached at a? to the top ofthe slide. The pin 45 has a spherical finger piece &8 by means ofwhichthe pm may be raised from any one of a is mounted on the plate 22below which isv a shaft 52 that carries the tappet 51. This tappet andslide are similar to the tappet and slide previously described and therefore no detail description will be required. iieyed on the front end ofthe shaft 52 is a downwardly projecting arm 53 on the end of which is aquadrant 54 similar to the quadrant 36 and grooved in a similar manneron its convex face for a lanyard 55 that is fixed at one end to saidquadrant and after passing around a roller 56 supported by a. bracket 57passes to a sound producing instrument that differs in pitch and inquality from the sound producing instrument operated by the lanyard 38.

The plate 20 attached to the central branches 17 of the standards 10 and11 carries a slide 23 similar to the slide 24: and below said slide is atappet 58 supported on a shaft 59 journaled in the branches 17. Thistappet as with the previously described tappets is slidable on itssupporting shaft and rocks said shaft when the tappet is actuated by anyone or all of the cams 27 on the rear end of the drum 13. An arm 60fixed on the shaft 59 and extending downwardly has a quadrant 61 on itslower end, this arm and quadrant being similar to the arms 35 and 53with their quadrants previously described. A lanyard 62 is secured tothe quadrant and passing about a roller 63 extends to a sound producinginstrument that differs in quality and pitch from the instrumentsoperated by the lanyards 38 and 55. From what has been saidit isapparent that the cams 26 on the front end of the cylinder 13 areadapted to actuate two tappets each controlling a sound producinginstrument that differs from the other both in pitch and quality, whilethe cams 27 operate a tappet that actuates a third sound producinginstrument which differs in quality and pitch from the previouslymentioned instruments. It is therefore clear that by properly adjustingthe tappets with relation to their operating cams on the drum 13 a greatnumber of combinationscan be produced. rnese combinations differ in thenumber of suc' cessive blasts produced by one or more soundinginstruments ant. are readily distinguished by the quality of sound bythe pitch and by the number of blasts and a simple code can be easilyarranged to indicate to all persons within ear shot of the signal thedirection in which the vessel carrying the signal is sailing and otherinformation which it is desirable to convey to other vessels and to thecoast stations. As an example of sound producing instrun'ients thelanyard may be connected to operate a deep toned whistle when the tappetis actuated, the lanyard will operate a siren when actuated by thetappet 51, while the lanyard 62 operated by the tappet 58 will cause ashrill pitched whistle to sound. These three instruments so clearly andeasily distinguished one from the other will enable code signals to beheard with little or no confusion.

In connection with the signals hereinbefore described there is provideda fog signaling apparatus for use particularly when a vessel isapproaching the shore and sailing within a harbor. This signalingmechanism comprises the cams 28 which as shown are divided into fourequally spaced cams around the drum 13. If desired this may be onecontinuous cam or instead of four, there may be two or three cams on thedrum so as to produce one long continuous sound or a series of two,three or four equally spaced sounds within a predetermined time. Eitherthe deep toned whistle or the siren may be operated by moving thetappets 50 or 51 into position to be actuated by the earns 28 butpreferably smaller tappets such as 6 1- 6 65 slidable on the shafts 29and 52 are employed. These tappets each carry a roller 66 and areoperated each by a slide 67 carried by the horizontal plates 21 and 22.A quadrant 68 on the tappets 64.: and 65 similar to the quadrant enablesthe tappets to be moved longitudinally on their supporting shaftswhenever the slides 67 are moved on the plates 21 and Locking pins 69are mounted on the slides to engage holes 70 in the horizontal platesfor securing the tappets in position to be operated by the cam 28 or outoi? engagement with said cams as desired. T he tappets 6st and 65 arelreyed to the shafts 9,9 and 52 respectively and slide endwise on saidshafts so that when either of these tappets is operated by the cams 28the lanyard. operating arms and 53 will be operated to sound thedeeptoned whistle or the siren, it being unden stood that the tappets 50and 51 will under these conditions be moved beyond the drum so as to beinoperative.-

What I claim is:

1. A signaling apparatus comprising a rotatable drum having groups ofcam projections on its peripheral surface, a pair of tappets each havinga broad contact end adapted to be moved into position over a group ofcam projections to beioperated by one or more of the projections of saidgroup, a third tappet also having a broad contact end movable intoposition to be operated by one or more cam projections of another groupof cams, and a swinging arm operated by each of said tappets adapted tobe connected each to an independent sound producing instrument forcausing said instrument to speak when the tappet is operated.

r? signaling apparatus comprising a rotatable drum having plurality ofcircumferentially spaced cam projections on the periphery thereotarranged in groups, each of said cams being arranged in a difierentplane perpendicular to the aXis of the drum, a plurality of tappets,each tappet being provided with a broad roller adapted to be moved intooperative engagement with one or more cams of a group oi cams, and meansactuated by each or said tappets to cause a sound producing instrumentto speak when the tappet is operated.

3. A signaling apparatus comprising a rotatable drum having a pluralityof circumterentially spaced cam projections on the periphery thereofarranged in groups, each of said cams being spaced laterally from oneanother, a plurality of tappets each adapted to be moved laterallyentirely over the periphery of said drum irrespective of the position orthe other tappets, a broad roller on each tappet enabling said tappet tobe engaged by one or more of said cam projections as the drum rotates,an arm actuated by each of said tappets, and a connection between eacharm and a sound producing instrument to cause said instrument to speakwhen the tappet is operated.

1. A signaling apparatus comprising a rotatable drum having a pluralityof circumferentially and laterally spaced cam projections on theperiphery thereof, a plurality of tappets each mounted upon a horizontalshaft and adapted to be moved longitudinally on said shaft entirelyacross the drum irrespective of the positions of the other tappets, eachtappet being keyed to the shaft to rock the latter when the tappet isoperated, means for moving each tappet over said drum to be engaged byone or more cam projections oi? a group, an arm fixed on each rock shaftto move therewith, and a connection from each arm to a sound producinginstrument for causing the latter to speak when the controlling tappetis operated.

A signaling apparatus comprising a rotatable drum havingcircumferentially and laterally spaced cam projections on the peripherythereof arranged in groups, a plu- Man rality of rock shafts exterior ofsaid drum and parallel with the axis thereof, a tappet mounted on eachshaft to rock the same and movable longitudinally thereof across thedrum irrespective of the positions of the ether tappets, a slide aboveeach tappet connected thereto to move the same upon its shaft, lockingmeans on each of said slides for fixing the tappet in position to beoperated by one or more cam projections of a group, an arm fixed to eachshaft and a lanyard connected to each arm and adapted to operate a soundproducing instrument to cause the latter to speak when the tappet isoperated.

6. A signaling apparatus comprising a rotatable drum havingcircumferentially and longitudinally spaced cam projections on theperiphery thereof arranged in groups, a plurality of tappets operated bysaid cam groups, each of said tappets comprising a sleeve slidable on ahorizontal shaft and adapted to rotate said shaft, arms depending fromsaid sleeve, a roller pivotally carried by said arms and adapted toengage one or more cams of a group, a quadrant-shaped plate projectingupwardly from said sleeve, a slide in engagement with said plate formoving the tappet over the drum into engagement with one or more camsand lock the same after being moved to a predetermined position, andmeans fixed on the shaft adapted to be connected to a sound producinginstrumentfor causing the latter to speak when the tappet is operated.

7. A signaling apparatus comprising a drum having a plurality of spacedcam projections on the periphery thereof arranged in groups, a pluralityof tappets each adapted to be operated by one or more cams of a group,said tappets being longitudinally movable on a rock shaft over theperiphery of the drum and having means for locking said shaft, a plateparallel with each of said shafts, a. slide longitudinally movable onJOSEPH MARSHALL,

- Witnesses:

RAoUL E. LEWIN, HENRY FAWsrTr.

